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World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Jun 15, 2010; 1(2): 38-49
Published online Jun 15, 2010. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v1.i2.38
Histamine regulation of hyperplastic and neoplastic cell growth in cholangiocytes
Paolo Onori, Eugenio Gaudio, Antonio Franchitto, Gianfranco Alpini, Heather Francis
Paolo Onori, Experimental Medicine, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila 67100, Italy
Eugenio Gaudio, Antonio Franchitto, Department of Human Anatomy, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome 00161, Italy
Gianfranco Alpini, Research, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, TX 76504, United States
Gianfranco Alpini, Heather Francis, Scott and White Digestive Disease Research Center, Scott and White, Temple, TX 76504, United States
Gianfranco Alpini, Heather Francis, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College of Medicine, Temple, TX 76504, United States
Heather Francis, Division of Research and Education, Scott and White, Temple, TX 76504, United States
Author contributions: Onori P and Gaudio E performed literature searches, contributed conceptually to the writing and reviewing of the article; Franchitto A contributed to the production of technical data and reviewed the article; Alpini G contributed conceptually to the article design and reviewed the article; and Francis H performed literature searches, contributed conceptually to the article design, wrote, reviewed and edited the paper.
Correspondence to: Heather Francis, BS, Graduate Student and Research Associate, Texas A&M College of Medicine and Scott and White Hospital 702 SW H.K. Dodgen Loop, Temple, TX 76504, United States. hfrancis@tamu.edu
Telephone: +1-254-7427055
Received: February 9, 2010
Revised: April 3, 2010
Accepted: April 10, 2010
Published online: June 15, 2010
Abstract

Histamine has long been known to be involved in inflammatory events. The discovery of antihistamines dates back to the first half of the 20th century when a Swiss-Italian pharmacologist, Daniel Bovet began his work. In 1957 he was awarded a Nobel Prize for his production of antihistamines for allergy relief. Since that time, histamine has been found to play a role in other events besides allergic reaction. Possibly unbelievable to Bovet and his peers, histamine has now been marked as playing a role in liver pathologies including hepatobiliary diseases.

Keywords: Histamine; Receptors; Cholangiocytes; Cholestasis; Cholangiocarcinoma